communicate :: collaborate :: commemorate

Ever since I had my first iPad, I wanted to use it with a pen. Not looking at all the cheap trinkets I got at conferences, I own three of them. A Bamboo Stylus, a FiftyThree Pencil and an Adonit Jot Touch. The Bamboo is the cheapest one and it does not have any special features. It just works like a thin finger. The Fifty Three Pencil pairs with your iPad over Bluetooth and if the software recognizes the pencil, it can do something called "palm rejection". That means you can rest your hand on the glass while writing. The problem with the 53 Pencil is that it is still very large and squishy. You can draw with it, but you can't write. The Adonit Jot Touch however has palm rejection, and a fine point, plus pressure sensitivity. It is by far the most advanced of the three. The key point however is "if the software recognizes the pencil". Microsoft has worked with Fifty Three on Pencil support in OneNote, however not with Adonit.

Microsoft Surface 3 changed all that for me. Microsoft has a Surface Pen that is supported by Surface in a nice way. Push the button on the pen and Surface 3 launches into OneNote and a clean note. No need to login. You can just start writing notes. Push the button again for the next note. Push a button on the side of the pencil, and it starts erasing. This all works so well, that Surface has become my goto device for any interviews or keynotes.

But Surface has a software problem. While it is a full PC, there are hardly any good apps in Microsoft's app store. That's a play dominated by iPad. Not even Android has this breadth of software support. A 10" iPad with Pencil support cures all of these problems. The 13" iPad Pro woke up all those ISVs to support the Pencil. And now we may get a smaller, much more convenient form factor. I can't wait to use one.